June 1, 2014

Handicap: May 26, 2014

TODAYS WORD FOR MONDAY MAY 26, 2014.

HANDICAP

DEFINITION:

Any disadvantage that makes success more difficult; a physical or mental disability which may make ordinary activities of daily living more difficult.

SCRIPTURE:

For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Most of us do not know what it is to deal with a debilitating handicap. A handicap makes ordinary activities more difficult and often puts limits on what one can do. Most of us can only imagine just how frustrating it must be to deal with any physical or mental handicap. We can understand somewhat because we have had two members of our family with handicaps.

How does one handle handicaps? There are some well-known people who have achieved great success in spite of their handicap. Let us share several of these with you.

Albert Einstein became a brilliant mathematician and physicists in spite of a learning disability. Alexander Graham Bell also had a learning disability but had some 1000 patents for his inventions.

Marla Runyan competed as a runner in the Olympics although she was blind from birth. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected President of the United States for four terms in spite of being crippled by polio and being confined to a wheelchair.

But none of these had as great a handicap as Helen Keller. She was blind, deaf and mute, yet she achieved success that would seem impossible for anyone so handicapped. She became an author, lecturer and a crusader for the handicapped.

Just think how much Helen must have desired to be healed of her afflictions. Yet she was able to say, “I thank God for my handicaps, for through them I have found myself, my work and my God.”

Some people respond to their handicaps with self-pity. They limit their usefulness and service to God and man because they put their concern for themselves first. Helen Keller let the Lord work in her life and in spite of her limitations she made herself useful. She became a respected and well-known as an advocate for those living with handicaps.

The Apostle Paul knew the pangs of suffering. He used his infirmities (handicaps) to honor God rather than allowing his infirmities to use him and he used them for the glory of God.

Paul said in II Corinthians 12:7, “There was given me a thorn in the flesh.” Paul doesn’t say what it was but apparently it was a debilitating and chronic problem that was a hindrance to him. It is recorded that Paul pleaded three times with the Lord to take it away but God did not. Instead God said, “My grace is sufficient for you, My power is made perfect in weakness.” The weaker we are the more God’s grace shines through. Paul was able to testify to God’s grace. Paul said, “For when I am weak, than I am strong.”

Many of our email friends (now over 25,000 daily) write us about infirmities and handicaps that concern them. Our prayer is that these few thoughts today on HANDICAPS might be a blessing to you and that you will find God’s grace sufficient for you and that His power will be made perfect in your weakness. 

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Philippians 4:13.

I can do all things through Him whom strengthens me.

PRAYER:

Help me to work through any handicaps that I face in my life and allow me to rejoice in what blessings God gives me. Give me a sensitive heart for those that I meet with handicaps that I may be a blessing to them.



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